Perspectives on Percival Everett examines issues of identity, authenticity, and semiotics, in addition to postmodernism and African-American and American literary traditions—all issues essential to understanding his aesthetic and political concerns. The book is now available from UPM.
Below is a conversation with Mitchell and Vander that covers the reasons behind Everett’s lack of critical attention, his influences, and new discoveries that were made while editing their new book.
This is the first collection
of scholarly essays on Percival Everett’s work published in the United States. Why
do you think that Everett has not received the sustained critical attention
that he deserves?
First, it seems
that literary scholars, both black and white, do not quite know what to make of
Everett and his work. Everett has primarily eschewed categorization in terms of
folks wanting to pigeon hole him as an African American writer. Although a good
bit of his fiction specifically deals with African American experiences, he
often does not foreground so-called “African Americaness” in his work. Indeed,
in a number of his novels, the main characters are not even determinedly
“raced.” That is the characters are neither definitively physically racially
marked nor dialogically racially marked. As such, his work is not always
specifically grounded in the “black experience”; rather, we would argue that
all of his work, regardless of the racial identification of the main
characters, is grounded in human experiences.
Perhaps another
reason that Everett’s work has not received the critical attention it is due is
because most readers find his work too experimental or avant garde. Again,
Everett eschews these labels. His work is no more or less experimental or avant
garde (read difficult), than Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, or Don
DeLillo; not to mention Ishmael Reed, John Edgar Wideman, or Toni Morrison.
Similar to these writers, Everett is extremely innovative and does not dumb
down his work.
In terms of
Everett’s relationship with the large publishing houses, unfortunately, the
major publishing houses in America do not particularly “get” Percival Everett.
Thus, most of his work, often by the author’s choice, has been published by
more independently operated and independently-minded publishers such as
Graywolf Press and Red Hen Press. Thus, although Everett’s reading public might
be smaller than say someone like David Foster Wallace or Toni Morrison who, to
different degrees, embraced the role of celebrity-writer, Everett’s reading and
scholarly audiences are fiercely loyal and recognize his genius.
Who and what are some of Percival Everett’s literary and extra-literary influences?
Percival Everett
is probably one of the most well-read American writers working today. Not only
is he an internationally acclaimed writer, but he also teaches creative fiction
and literary theory at the University of Southern California. In addition, he
is an accomplished poet and abstract painter. One can see influences from
diverse sources as Euripides, John Dryden, Laurence Sterne, Mark Twain, James
Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Jean Toomer, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Ishmael Reed,
Clarence Major, to name a few. Moreover,
his work has also been influenced by high literary theory, which his work often
parodies, as well as modernist visual artists and poets, as well as film.
How did your interest in
Percival Everett’s work lead to this groundbreaking collection of essays?
If someone is interested in
reading Percival Everett’s fiction, where is a good place to start?
There are several
of Everett’s novels that we would recommend to someone unfamiliar with his
work: Zulus (1990), a beautifully
written novel about finding one’s identity in a post-Apocalyptic world; God’s Country (1994); a rollicking
parody of the American western novel, and Erasure
(1999), to date arguably his most well known novel about an African American
writer of experimental novels who sets up an elaborate ruse against the
established American publishing industry in order to prove its philistinism. We would also suggest Everett’s three highly
regarded short collections: The Weather
and Women Treat Me Fair (1987), Big Picture (1996), and Damned If I Do (2004).
What is the most surprising
thing you discovered in editing this collection of essays?
Well, not so
surprising given Percival Everett’s vast interests as a writer, a poet, and a
visual artist, we found that contributor’s were able to deeply engage Everett
on his level. The different and innovative approaches presented in the analysis
of Everett’s fiction and poetry, says something about the high level of
intellectual engagement expressed by the essay contributors and is a testament
to the high level of intellectual engagement with which Everett engages in his
writing.
Rather than
something that surprised us during our editing of the essays, we would have to
say that an enduring effect of reading our contributors’ works and rereading so
much of Everett to ensure that the essays, as best as possible, truly captured
the essence of his writing, inarguably would have to be our renewed awareness
of theory and its place in creative writing and scholarship. When thinking through the essays and
revisiting Everett’s works, one realizes how theory isn’t simply applied to reading
a text but also woven into the writing of the text. Honestly, that has to be one of the best
takeaways from having worked on this project.
Everett’s texts were at times embodiments and contestations of certain
theoretical ideals, and trying to figure out how those theories were embedded
in the narratives often proved both challenging and rewarding. Still, we genuinely had a good time working
through it all.
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